The research discovered that the young consume the most chocolate. Indeed, a quarter of British people between the ages of 25 – 34 eat chocolate daily.

Londoners consume the most amount of chocolate on a daily basis (26 per cent eat it on a daily basis).

While 17 per cent eat it daily in the North and Scotland, and 16 per cent in the South West and Wales.

In the West Midlands and the North West, 15 per cent of their populations eat it daily.

The parts of the UK that tuck in to chocolate the least are the South East and East Anglia (12 per cent) and Yorkshire and the Humberside (11 per cent).

The research also discovered that there was little discrepancy when it came to the sexes and how much chocolate they consume.

Richard Ford, senior food and drink Analyst at Mintel, said: “From the Aztecs to Willie Wonka, in both fact and fiction, cocoa and chocolate have held a special place in people's hearts throughout the centuries.

“That's no less so today - demonstrated by the fact that just a small minority of Brits say they never eat chocolate.

“Its status as a personal treat remains an ingrained part of consumers' diets, despite the recent focus on the role of foods high in fat and sugar in the nation's weight gain.”